The Thirteenth Step
by TDH
Summary: A training session gone bad. Tieria meets Hallelujah for the first time.


_A/N: just something I wrote for practice a while ago. ...Actually, it was half for practice and half for someone who's a huge Halle/Tieria fan. _

* * *

Allelujah jumps; he lands gracefully, almost silently on the bamboo rug, at mere inches away from its edge. He's still for a very long moment - doesn't move in either direction, doesn't even rise from his almost-crouch. His eyes are on his adversary, his full attention dedicated to the man opposite of him. He studies Tieria's movements, the shallow rise and fall of his chest as he breathes, matching him breath for breath.

Allelujah moves - imperceptibly so - until he's fully crouched, and waits.

One.

Two.

Tieria shifts his position slightly, preparing himself for for the attack.

Allelujah readies himself. His muscles tense and twitch beneath his skin for a moment; then-

He lunges.

They collide halfway between their respective ends of the mat. Tieria is lighter, moves faster; he evades the blow, ducks and slams his fist into Allelujah's stomach, knocking him off balance. A second punch sends him tumbling backwards and it's only by sheer luck that he doesn't fall outside of the improvised arena.

Tieria appears in his line of vision and promptly steps on his chest, cutting off Allelujah's air supply for a second and keeping him pinned down. "I win."

Something inside Allelujah stirs. _No, you don't_, he thinks quite uncharacteristically. He grabs Tieria's ankle with both hands and _twists_, knocking the younger man off his feet and sending him tumbling in an undignified heap on the bamboo mat.

Tieria recovers unexpectedly fast from the shock and the fall; he scrambles to get back on his feet, but Allelujah drags him back down again. For his efforts, he gets a kick in the solar plexus that knocks the wind out of him; he pays Tieria back by kicking the legs from under him. He doesn't give him time to recover (he doesn't give _himself_ time to recover) - he crawls over and on top of Tieria, pins his legs down so he can't wriggle his way out of this and wraps his hands around the younger man's neck.

And _squeezes_.

Tieria lets out a choked yelp, his eyes widening in shock. His hands scramble uselessly at Allelujah's, trying to unclench those fingers from around his neck. Shock is replaced by anger, then by horror because Allelujah squeezes _harder_ and grins and it doesn't look like he realizes that he could _kill_ Tieria, that this is going too far, had already gone too far.

Tieria screams soundlessly. Allelujah pushes down harder, tilts his head to one side, grins and looks down at Tieria, one eye closed. His other eye, the one Tieria had only seen in a photograph in Haptism's file, glints with something like madness and joy.

_Stop it, let go!_

Tieria gasps for air and struggles, trying vainly to free himself. His mouth is open, but the cries for help stay inside his head. The hands around his neck tighten, almost crushing his windpipe.

_Allelujah!!_

He tries to flip them over, but his thrashing is fruitless. He's growing weaker by the second, his vision's getting blurry around the edges and his hands clench involuntarily, fingernails digging into Allelujah's skin. He feels something warm trickle down his palms (it's Allelujah's blood) and screams again, but it's only in his head. If VEDA could hear him... If only Lockon could--

_Allelujah... _

But his pleas go unheeded because VEDA is an incorporeal entity and lacks the means to save him, and Lockon... Lockon is only human and can't hear him.

_Stop... _

Then something unexpected happens: Allelujah lets go. Completely. Clambers off of Tieria and he's suddenly at the other end of the mat, looking like he's about to cry, or scream, or faint, or all three of them at once. Tieria chokes on air like a fish out of water, coughs, chokes again and finally rolls on his stomach, coughing until his eyes start watering.

Allelujah doesn't move, doesn't speak, barely even breathes. Tieria wants to strangle him, but he's shaking too bad to get up, much less overpower Allelujah. He just glares at him with all the hate he can muster and hopes that's enough to keep him away for now. After a few attempts, he manages to pull himself into a crouch and he inches as far away from the other man as he can.

Allelujah finally looks his way. His golden eye is hidden under his long bangs; it's out of sight, not out of mind, but it still makes Allelujah look considerably less threatening.

"Tieria... How-"

Tieria shakes his head furiously. "Shut up!" he croaks, his voice rough and almost unrecognizable. "I will report this incident," he says, "and I'll make sure that you'll get your punishment." The more he talks, the easier and less painful it gets. Tieria is quite sure that if Allelujah tries to assault him again, he can scream - and loudly too - and Lockon may be deaf to his quantum brainwaves, but he can hear his screams.

Allelujah doesn't give up. "How did you do that?" he asks, his voice quiet and tone pleading and he makes a move to turn around to face Tieria properly, but thinks better of it. "I heard you; how did you-"

Tieria is too angry to look confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I heard you asking- asking me to stop," Allelujah explains, looking confused enough for the both of them. "Did they- Are you- are you _like me_?"

At this, Tieria rises to his full height, still a bit wobbly on his feet and takes a step backward and out of the improvised arena. He looks beyond appalled. "I am _nothing_ like you," he says through gritted teeth, his face pale with anger. "Get out of my sight."

"Tieria, please!" Allelujah implores, getting up and walking towards Tieria, backing him up against the wall and grabbing his shoulders. "I have to know! I thought I was the only one left. I thought they didn't continue after-"

Tieria is livid, still. Allelujah can feel him shivering slightly and there's no mistaking the look in his unnatural red eyes. There's fear underneath that anger. "Get out of here," Tieria hisses.

Allelujah knows that's all, that's it. Tieria won't answer him, won't reason. He's frightened, he's furious, and if he could reach for the gun he left on the bench before they began their sparring, he would shoot him. So he lets go, backing away slowly until he's at the door, at the opposite end of the room. "I'm sorry," he whispers, then turns around and walks out.


End file.
